Designated Drivers
Another cycle, another bar. It's turning into one of those centuries where Runamuck spends most of his time alternating between the stark reality of being sane in a faction filled with nutcases, and being completely blitzed out of his metallic gourd. This is the section where he's the latter, and the mechanism staggers out into the highway. The blaring techno music, although likely a symphonic, nuanced peice to the ears of a connoisseur, fills the electrified, cold atmosphere with a distinct WOMP WOMP WOMP WOMP noise. It's the kind of music that universally means 'club', 'frenetic depression', and 'arrested development'. And so, the lone Battlecharger stands in the lot just outside the Apocalypse, waving around a metal container in one hand, a gun in the other, and the head of a dead Decepticon trooper morbidly chained to his hip as he shoots at traffic passing by, cackling like a complete social retard. "Fire! Fire! Mwe-hehe-hehe!" No, he doesn't normally sound like this. The thing to take from it all? Runamuck was totally blasted in Decepticon Graffiti. Halo transforms into a stunning ALFA ROMEO PANDION! Alfa Romeo Pandion SHOULD be in her workshop, making the finishing touches on a new series of flashlight pistols for the Protectobots. But as luck would have it, a shipment of neccesary comoponents never arrived- in fact, the deliverymech vanished somewhere in the area. Typically, checking on this would be below Halo, but every now and then something fuels the snobby femme to do something below her station. It's usually anger. So Halo finds herself on this lone stretch of Southern Highway, weaving in and out of the few other carmechs on the road, allowing herself to enjoy the speed and freedom of her alternate mode... Until the random shooting stars, of course. "Of course..." Halo speeds past Runamuck, determined to ignore him- until her Autobotness gets the better of her. Halo swings out of her lane, handbraking a U-Turn, and speeds back towards the Apocalypse, brights on Runamuck. "Perhaps you should go inside and recharge this one off. I'd rather not waste my evening putting you in statis myself, Decepticon." Her engine revs, wheels tense. What? Halo's words, while likely dripping with contempt, are filtered through Runamuck's soused audo sensors, and are processed as follows: "...you should... one off... my evening..." The Battlecharger squints behind the mirrored visor over his face, and he stops firing. That's can't be right. People don't /talk/ to Runamuck. They lecture him, or order him... so he accurately determines that his drunken misunderstanding is some kind of threat or command. Another look and squint suggests that there's a lot of white! An Autobot! But wait.. also Purple! Is she Decepticon command? The shock trooper hems, haws, and falls silent. Eh. Roll the dice. He can blame it on inebriation later, provided that this isn't Galvatron in some sexy new disguise. He raises his weapon, narrows his eyes, and fires at the blurry shape, attempting to shoot her with an honest to god LASER while saying something /dreadfully witty/ in the process. Unfortunately he's drunk, so it comes out more like, "Farmay torupt yar trabble... marrade!" Combat: Runamuck misses Alfa Romeo Pandion with his Laser attack! Alfa Romeo Pandion tenses when the drunk Con raises his weapon. "Drop it, Decepticon. Do NOT..." And then he speaks. "I'm just wasting processor power, at this point..." The weapons designer transforms, spinning to her feet with the grace of a figure skater, and just as much useless pomp and flair. Drawing twin blasters, she darts towards Runamuck, hoping to bring him down quickly. "Time to call it a night, then!" Pewpewpewpew, say her guns. Halo twists from sleek car to flawless HEROIC AUTOBOT! Combat: Halo misses Runamuck with her Laser attack! CHAT: I don't know which channel you mean. CHAT: Partial matches are: Advisor Autobot CHAT: You may wish to set the CHAN_USEFIRSTMATCH flag on yourself. <'Autobot'> Halo says, "The bartender wouldn't cut this Decepticon off, so it looks like it's up to me. Lovely." Battle hardened reflexes kick in, and... well, actually he lurches forward to see if his shot connected, barely avoiding the incoming shots that graze by. A night? He's not yet begun to battle! The might of the Decepticon army demands he take action now, as this enemy is /clearly/ an Autobot, because a Decepticon would be screaming a lot and threatening him with death. Good call, Runamuck! With the grace of a drunken trucker and just as much useless stumbling about and vertigo, the Battlecharger charges forward, attempting to shoulder-check the graceful Autobot into the ground! Combat: Runamuck strikes Halo with his Smash attack! -1 Combat: You took 7 damage. <'Autobot'> Shiftlock says, "I suggest cutting him /up/." For some reason, Halo thought this would be easier. This drunken wretch is completely beneath her, and should have been dropped by her first few shots. Instead, she finds herself skidding along the street after the impact of a stumbly shoulder block. Kipping back to her feet, Halo recomposes herself. "Well. Obviously you're not going to fight like a gentlemech." She waits for Runamuck to close the distance with his continued stumbling, and snaps a kick at his head. Combat: Halo strikes Runamuck with her Kick attack! "Gah!" It's more surprising than damaging, and the ham-handed Decepticon is forced to stagger backward and back away. The plus side is that there's a clear dent in his head. The downside is that now he's a little more focused, because nothing cures a drunken stupor like a Boot to the Head!™ Runamuck points at the Autobot, reholstering his laser pistol and pulling his main gun. "Yeah," he grouses, "I totally failed charm school. Nothing but dirty tricks and exhaust jokes here." Having (sort of) regained his composure, the shock trooper opens fire, the blasts screaming through the air to pelt at Halo with highly reactive friction molecules that will burn her up as she moves! Friction! It's science! It worked for the Flash on the Superfriends! Combat: Runamuck misses Halo with his Friction Overload attack! Halo blinks as the kick seems to have helped Runamuck more than hurt him. She makes a face at his choice in humor. "Ah. You know, I think I liked you better when you were speaking jibberish." Time to retake the advantage. She darts to the left, dodging blasts of FRICTION MOLECULES -mental note, Halo, you haven't considered friction molecules for a design in decacycles- before transforming into her car mode, peeling out, and...driving away? The chase is on? Halo transforms into a stunning ALFA ROMEO PANDION! Combat: Alfa Romeo Pandion takes extra time to steady herself. Pass And the chase is on! The high tech Autobot car takes off like a brilliant silver streak! Runamuck, however, does not. Although he's a Trans-Am in a blink of an eye, the car belches a huge amount of smoke, and roars like a thing possessed. "Oh no. Oh ...no. /OH NO/!" The battlecharger roars, half laughing as the Autobot heads into the distance. "You are NOT driving away! I'm /Runamuck/! The road is my playpen! Cars are my toys!" Yeah, he used his motto! With a thundering burst of speed, the Trans Am is taking off, rocketing forward to smash into the Autobot's fender! Combat: Runamuck sets his defense level to Aggressive. Blink, and you'll miss Runamuck transforming into a white Pontiac! Combat: White Pontiac strikes Alfa Romeo Pandion with his Reckless Driving attack! -4 Combat: You took 10 damage. Halo(#5732PnAC) A sleek bright white and violet Alfa Romeo Pandion, with cyan highlights and FOC style lighting accents. The most striking feature of the car is its doors, which open by rotating backwards to a full upwards 90 degrees, stretching from front to rear fender. The car's windows are completely tinted. Carrying: Cog Leech Cannon This is plan is going even better than expected. The distance Halo is able to put on Runamuck while he takes the time to retch is exactly what she needs to...Oh. That is one fast Trans Am. Time to adjust the plan. Halo grimaces as Runamuck smashes into her. "EXCUSE ME. Never without my persmission!" She swings into the right lane and transforms, multiple rolls taking the place of brakes as Runamuck blasts past her. Shaking off the impact, she produces a rather large and nasty looking cannon out of subspace. "Well. As good a time for a prototype test as any." She crouches on one knee, holding the anti tank looking blaster on her shoulder, takes aim, annnnnnnd... ...fires a single large silver sphere at a high velocity. As it nears it's target, the sphere burns away, revealing one of Cybertron's nastiest creatures: a cog leech! If it connects, it will burrow into Runamuck's circuitry and attach itself to his T-Cog, disabling his transformations until it's gorged itself on fluid! How messed up is that? Halo twists from sleek car to flawless HEROIC AUTOBOT! Combat: Halo strikes White Pontiac with the Halo-forged Cog Leech Cannon attack! Combat: That attack has mode-locked2 White Pontiac . (MODE-LOCKED2) Combat: Used up 1 Charges. 0 remain. <'Autobot'> Halo says, "Ah! It worked! Well, of course it worked, but still." <'Autobot'> Halo preens <'Autobot'> Shiftlock says, "Is he dead?" <'Autobot'> Halo says, "No, but he DOES have a t-cog leech burrowing into his circuits, leaving him unable to change from his car mode." <'Autobot'> Torque says, "Where'd you even get one of those?" <'Autobot'> Air Raid says, "Wow!" <'Autobot'> Shiftlock says, "..." <'Autobot'> Shiftlock says, "I don't know whether to be jealous or scared." <'Autobot'> Halo says, "Oh, the lake in Accerix is full of them. Don't swim in it." Almost immediately, something seems off. The approaching sphere glints in his optic sensors in an unhealthy way. The effect is almost chillng... and then the slug-thing appears. That's even worse. Runamuck doesn't even have time to shriek like a girl when the thing splatters onto his hood and starts sigging into his systems. The pain is bad enough, but then the existential panic hits. "Augh! Can't transform! Can't transform!" he sputters. To the end that Halo has weaponized a leech? Success! To the extent that Halo has reduced the danger to herself? That remains to be seen! Runamuck is so distracted by the attack and he monster wriggling around in his systems, he doesn't notice he's actually speeding up, hurtling at a breakneck speed towards Halo! <'Autobot'> Fathom says, "...I was... just in that lake..." <'Autobot'> Fathom says, "Slag." <'Autobot'> Halo says, "Weaponizing them was rather simple. It was a matter of finding the appropiate projection method." Combat: White Pontiac 's Reckless Driving attack aimed for Halo backfires! Combat: White Pontiac strikes himself with his Reckless Driving attack! <'Autobot'> Torque says, "You might wanna come in and I'll check you over, Fathom" <'Autobot'> Fathom says, "Yes... yes I think that would be best." <'Autobot'> Halo says, "I found that...one moment." Halo steps aside as Runamuck drives himself into the side of the bar. "Drinking and driving...," she chides, letting the cannon dissolve into subspace. She unslings her cryorifle from her shoulder, and takes aim through the scope as she walks towards the downed trans am. "As much as I've enjoyed our evening...Shall we call it?" She squeezes off an icy shot to push the suggestion home. Combat: Halo strikes White Pontiac with her Scoped Cryo Rifle attack! In an eyeblink, the white Pontiac becomes the villan, Runamuck! 'Shall we end it', she asks. Well, the fact of the matter is that Runamuck is not really sure what the hell is going on anymore. The crumpled front end of his vehicle mode indicates /something/ has happened, as is the horrible pain. The only good thing to happen so far is the fact that the icy blast appears to have frozen that horrible leech to death. As a result, he's capable of transforming - but this time he only does it at normal speed. He staggers, reeling and peering at the gun weilding woman. "What the hell..!? Who the hell even /are/ you?" The rifle is raised again - more out of panick and desperation than actual aggression - and he fires. Searing hot particles shriek through the air again to spatter across the Autobot's armor as the Battlecharger pratically prays that the fire is enough to distract her so he can get away! Combat: Runamuck strikes Halo with his Friction Rifle attack! Combat: You took 11 damage. Combat: Runamuck's attack has damaged your Accuracy! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Halo's Agility. (Crippled) Perhaps it was just pride that caused Halo to assume Runamuck still wouldn't be able to shoot to save his life. Whether it was her arrogance or lack of reflexes, her chest bursts into flames. "I!!!" Nothing snappy to say. Halo staggers backwards in a panic-her paintjob!- pulling the clip out of her cryorifle and smashing it between her hands, trying to smear the ice globs on to stop the flames! She struggles for far too long, her optics narrowing as she spots Runamuck sprinting away in the distance. Something snaps a little. Worse than the time the caterers had provided the wrong energon goodies to her shop opening. "NO." She transforms, zipping after him, still smoking a good bit. "No one sets me on fire and WALKS AWAY." Sadly on Cybertron that is not the first time someone has yelled that. Twin blasters uncoil to life on her hood, EMP blasts lancing after Runamuck. "We're not finished, Decepticon!" Halo transforms into a stunning ALFA ROMEO PANDION! Combat: Alfa Romeo Pandion strikes Runamuck with her Twin EMP Blasters attack! Hah! Walk away? Walk away! Runamuck does more than just /walk away/. No, Runmuck /drives/ away. As the glashing EMP bursts strike his armor, Runamuck can feel his energy reserves being sapped, which results in a ratcheting, creaking noise as vital systems start leeching the energy from other places. "Augh!" The battlcharger wittly retorts. Runamuck effectively folds forward, transforming back down into a car. With a rev of his engines, the Trans-Am takes off, wheels burning a trail behind him. Combat: Runamuck sets his defense level to Protected. Blink, and you'll miss Runamuck transforming into a white Pontiac! Combat: White Pontiac takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Alfa Romeo Pandion hits her brakes and transforms, glaring after the escaping RUNAMUCK. She takes aim with her cryrifle for a moment, and then scowls, cringing at her still burning torso. Dropping the gun to her side, she clutches her chest, and turns back towards the bar. "All this and I still haven't found that bloody delivery mech..."